In last week's episode, Duncan's team managed to save the very man they plan to murder and Ellen shared a steamy kiss with Duncan. In this week's episode, "The Cost of Living," Brian learns about Ellen's growing connection to Duncan and Sandrine makes a move against her team. Read on to find out if Hostages continues to hold our attention.

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A New Problem

This week's episode continues from last week's non-cliffhanger, as we learn that Duncan was taken by Logan and Blair because they want to have a chat with him about his actions in New York. He ruined their plans and they are not impressed, but Duncan says he is their best shot at finishing this thing. Duncan is confident that Ellen will come through for them and kill the President.

Blair informs him that there is a snag in their plan in the form of a new Secret Service agent who now outranks Logan. If they want their plan to go off without a hitch, they need to get rid of this new guy -- Cahill -- so Logan can be put back in charge.

Another Person Dies Thanks to Duncan

In order to handle Cahill, Duncan enlists the help of an old friend. Duncan's friend is with the DC police and Duncan brings him in to make an arrest. With Archer's assistance, Duncan sets Cahill up to be caught with a prostitute and this is where Duncan's friend comes in. During the take-down, the men struggle and Cahill accidentally shoots Duncan's friend. While Duncan is upset about this turn of events, Blair considers it a win since Cahill is now out of the picture.

Duncan Learns of Sandrine's Betrayal

Sandrine meets with Logan and tries to convince him that she knew nothing about what Duncan was up to in New York. It is unclear if Logan believes her, but he claims he is willing to give her one more chance to prove herself. Logan gives her three untraceable charges and tells her to attach one to each of her colleagues' cars. Once the President is dead, Logan's people will detonate the charges, taking out the other members of Duncan's team.

Archer is suspicious of Sandrine's odd behavior, so he follows her. He catches her meeting with Logan and informs Duncan, who thinks Sandrine may be selling out the rest of the team, but he needs proof. Duncan has Kramer take Sandrine on a fake stake-out to see if she takes the bait, and when she does, Duncan tells Archer that Sandrine is working for the other side.

Ellen Has a Change of Heart

We actually see Ellen operating on someone in this episode, but it is all so she can learn an important lesson about human life. Her patient is a suspected cop killer and she does everything in her power to save his life when no one else seems to care. The man's son later thanks her for that and reminds her that no matter how awful his dad might be, he is still a person.

Ellen goes home that night and tells Brian she has changed her mind about killing the President. Even if Kincaid is the worse person alive, she cannot kill him. How will Duncan react when he learns that his new make-out buddy is backing out of her end of the deal? Will Ellen's family be made to pay for her last-minute doubt? If so, can we start with Brian?

Vanessa Betrays Blair

Blair is still putting the pieces together for his career advancement. He meets with some big shot who is concerned about the President's mind-set when it comes to OTI because his company invested a lot of money in keeping that program up and running. Blair assures him that the President will be out of the picture before he can reveal any information about the program, and we now know that there are even more players in the plot against the President. Is there anyone not trying to kill this man?

Blair asks Vanessa how her meeting with the Vice President went and she claims the VP is excited about having Blair on his circuit. She also suggests that Blair pay a secret visit to the Attorney General to drum up support for his future political career. But at a gathering later that night, she talks to the same big-shot Blair met with earlier and tells him about Blair's meeting with the AG. She not-so-subtlely hints that Blair might be getting cold-feet about the whole assassination thing. Big-shot says he will make a few calls and we know Blair is not long for the world.

Brian Steps Up His Game

Brian has had enough of letting Duncan's team threaten his family, so he decides to go to the police. Alas, Duncan knows something is up because Brian is a terrible liar and Duncan asks Burton to take care of it. Burton catches Brian before he talks to the police and lets it slip that Ellen kissed Duncan. Burton suggests that the cops may be less inclinded to believe that their family is being held hostage if they see footage of Ellen making out with one of her captors. Brian reluctantly informs the police that he made a mistake coming in and has no information to share.

Brian goes home and confronts Ellen about the kiss. She admits to it and says she is sorry. She then defends Duncan and tells Brian that Duncan is doing all of this to save his wife. After learning the whole long story, Brian makes some good points when he points out that even if Duncan is being 100% truthful, his wife's illness does not excuse his actions. Brian and Duncan then engage in fisticuffs, but it is a non-event and I doubt anyone cares.

Later, Brian asks Morgan to borrow a phone from a school friend so he can make a call without Duncan's team listening in. When his captors are distracted, Brian uses said phone to call Nina and tell her that Duncan is holding his family hostage. Brian tells Nina everything -- including that the President is her biological father -- and places all of their lives in her hands. When Duncan pays his wife a visit later that night, she confronts him about his actions. Alas, since this show is so fond of cliffhangers, we will have to wait until the next episode to see how Duncan handles the situation.

What did you think of this week's episode? Were you surprised that Brian told Nina everything? Will Duncan admit to the truth or make up more lies to explain his behavior? Will Vanessa have Blair taken out before he learns that she betrayed him? And is Sandrine really prepared to eliminate her team or does she have something up her sleeve? Let us know your thoughts and theories in the comments section.